A comparative study of construction industry size and structure between the UK and Australia and the significance of industry fragmentation

While comparing both the size and structure between the UK and Australian construction industries, this study reveals that the UK construction industry is about two and a half times larger than the Australian construction industry, and both industries are dominated by the proportion of small firms. The issue of fragmentation is characteristic of the construction industries in these two countries, and beyond. This study then develops a self recruiting-subletting cost indifference point model to explain why fragmentation occurs. Although the high proportion of small firms in the construction industry has been criticised as it prevents the exploitation of economies of scale, the self recruiting-subletting cost indifference point model theoretically proposes that subletting is usually profitable for construction firms. Thus the size distribution of the construction industry has a propensity to skew towards small firms.

Using creativity to achieve an entrepreneurial future for arts marketing

The marketing concept fails to explain marketing behaviour of small firms. Similar comments are now being made of large firms. This gap between theory and practice is even more significant in non-profit and arts organisations where sector specific philosophies often determine how marketing is embraced, with its underlying notions of the customer and profitability. Many of these organisations must overcome severe resource constraints by thinking creatively. This paper investigates the relationship between art, marketing, entrepreneurship and creativity in order to reach a clearer understanding of how creativity can assist both the arts organisation and those involved in researching the sector. There have been increasing calls within the academic marketing community to instil a creative philosophy within the research process. This call has not resulted in much research on the phenomenon within marketing, and certainly not from a nonprofit perspective. This paper discusses creativity as a concept drawing on a diverse range of literatures outside the management discipline. The link between creativity, marketing, entrepreneurship and art is analysed. Justification of the incorporation of creativity in the research process is presented for practitioners and theorists in marketing and the arts, so that they can learn from each others' disciplines. Implications for future research are presented, where creativity is viewed as the centre of a non-linear, free thinking understanding of artistic truth.

Review : ABA techshow

The American Bar Association Technology show the largest tech show for the legal profession was held over three days and divided into ten sections - general, solo and small firms - strategies - collaboration/nets - Security - in-house and government lawyers - my favourite tools - litigation - enterprise - ethical challenges.

Australia's strengths and weaknesses in technology transfer and R&D exploitation : GEM survey "experts" views compared with public policy and other published data

There has been increasing public debate in Australia in recent years about research culture in universities and other publicly funded research agencies such as CSIRO and its impact on Australia's performance in generating economic, social and environmental benefits to the Australian community from the large amount of public funding for R&D. This is the supply side issue. On the demand side there is equally concern about the technology absorptive capacity of Australian. business as illustrated by the low proportion of gross business research expenditure (GERD) spent by business (BERD). Against this background, this paper has explored the views of abut 100 "experts" interviewed in the Australian Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) studies in the years 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 on the issues, strengths and weaknesses of Australia's technology transfer performance as it applies to new technology small firms. The paper has also explored evidence for any longitudinal change over this period.

A practical approach to achieving agility : a theory of constraints perspective

This article documents an action research (AR) project aimed at identifying the practical steps needed to become an agile manufacturer through a combination of the theory of constraints (TOC) and resource- based view (RBV) approaches in a small to medium enterprise (SME) in the Australian manufacturing sector. To date, lean production has been highlighted as a possible catalyst for creating an agile manufacturer, despite the evidence suggesting that lean manufacturing lacks the responsiveness and adaptability to effectively handle a rapidly changing market place and only works well in a stable environment. A more flexible system of production is required to fully encompass the agile characteristics needed to attain a competitive advantage. This research provides empirical evidence that the TOC perspective can be used as a practical approach for becoming an agile manufacturer. The study provides a workable approach for small firms to achieve ‘Agility’ in practice.

Process improvement and ICTs in Australian SMEs: a selection and implementation framework

This article describes the development, modification and testing of a tool designed to assist small firms in making more appropriate decisions regarding information and communication technology (ICT) selection and implementation. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, a number of possible tools were initially developed to support firm-based self-diagnostic exercises. Research outcomes from a joint European–Australian research project were regionalised for Australian conditions through collaborative product development with a number of Australian SME manufacturing firms. This article reports on the pilot implementations and the outcomes achieved with these Australian SMEs. These implementations have shown successful outcomes for the trial SME participants and have led to the creation of an online self-assessment tool to allow wider access by interested SMEs

Enhancing Chinese SME performance through innovative HR practices

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show how understanding of human resource (HR) management practices which have been adopted in the emerging markets such as that in China is particularly interesting to academia and management practitioners. The purpose of this study is to shed some light on the implementation of innovative HR practices among 74 Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to explain how the HR practices influence their firm performance.

Design/methodology/approach – Cluster analysis is used to group Chinese SMEs according to their adoption of innovative human resource (HR) practices and examine how the practices are associated with HR outcomes and firm performance.

Findings – It is found that the membership of clusters is influenced by several factors, including ownership, age and size of firms. These characteristics have influenced the motivation, capacity and ability of firms in the sample to adopt high performance human resource practices. The extent to which firms have adopted innovative human resource practices is shown to be closely associated with human resource outcomes and firm performance.

Originality/value – The key implication is that SMEs, especially those rapidly developing domestic and collectively owned small firms, as well as those state-owned enterprises in China, may see clearly the benefits of devoting greater attention to HR practices to achieve their future growth potential.

Benchmarking occupational health and safety performance of Australian construction companies.

It is mandatory for Australian construction companies to provide a safe working environment for their workers and sub-contractors. Consequently, occupational health and safety (OHS) is a major issue for construction firms mainly due to the fear of prosecution. The recent introduction of Zero Tolerance by the Victorian government WorkCover Authority provided even higher OHS safety standards for the construction industry. This has placed a increased burden on construction companies especially small firms that are not in a position of financial strength.

The size of the companies has been found to be a major contributing factor to the OHS performance of construction contractors. This research is based on benchmarking study of 44 construction companies in Victoria, Australia. The results show that the major factors influencing safety performance were; company size, and management commitment to OHS.

Measuring the occupational health and safety performance of construction companies in Australia

Many facility managers are now required to deal directly with small firms engaged in the maintenance, alteration and cleaning of physical infrastructure. Increasingly the performance of small firms reflects on the manager of the facility, and so an understanding of their operation is required. It is mandatory for all firms to provide a safe working environment for their workers and subcontractors. Consequently, occupational health and safety (OHS) is a major issue for companies mainly due to the fear of prosecution. The introduction of Zero Tolerance by the Victorian government WorkCover Authority in 1999 provided even higher OHS safety standards for the construction industry. This has placed an increased burden on construction and maintenance companies especially small firms that are not in a position of financial strength. The size of the company has been found to be a major contributing factor to the OHS performance of construction contractors. This research is based on a benchmarking study of 44 construction companies in Victoria, Australia. The results show that the major factors influencing safety performance were; company size, and management and employee commitment to OHS.

Effect of company size on occupational health and safety

It is mandatory in all Australian jurisdictions for construction companies to provide a safe working environment for their workers and sub-contractors. Consequently, occupational health and safety (OHS) is a major issue for construction companies mainly due to the fear of prosecution. The introduction of zero tolerance by the Victorian government “WorkCover Authority” in 1999 provided increased legislative OHS standards for the construction industry. This has placed an increased burden on construction companies especially small firms that are not in a position of financial strength. This research is based on benchmarking study of OHS performance of 44 construction companies in
Victoria, Australia. The results show that the size of the company is a major contributing factor to their OHS performance. Small companies employing less than 25 employees have comparatively low levels of OHS performance compared to larger firms. Company size is a limiting factor that impacts on the ability of small firms to implement comprehensive OHS plans. This research calls into question that notion that increasing legislative requirements will improve OHS outcomes.

Australian SMEs waste to landfill

Landfill waste has a negative impact on the environment and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are believed to be significant contributors. There is little government or scholarly research, however, quantifying the collective volume of waste SMEs send to landfill. Where studies do exist they measure total volumes (landfill and recycling combined) and/or do not distinguish between specific waste streams (e.g. wood) and subcategories (e.g. dust). This paper contributes to knowledge by giving insight into the collective volume of waste of 404 SMEs, reconceptualising SME waste into subcategories and by measuring landfill volumes. It presents findings from these 404 Australian SMEs which found that, in descending order, cardboard, paper, plastic wrap, wood dust and particleboard were the subcategories these SMEs sent to landfill in the greatest volumes. It also argues that this reconceptualisation, and associated data collection protocols, have the potential to enable scholars and policy makers to determine the waste subcategories to which SMEs contribute most, formulate targeted interventions and research or evaluate environmental outcomes. © 2014 © 2014 Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand Inc.

SMEs and the potential for a collaborative path to environmental responsibility

Globally, the potential for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to collectively impact negatively on the environment is great. Therefore, the adoption, and maintenance, of environmentally responsible practices by this group of firms is especially critical. Studies of environmental practices successfully implemented by small firms have revealed that relationships with other firms, or other organizations, can contribute to greater awareness of the benefits of such activities and, therefore, enhance the possibility of environmental engagement. Collaborative relationships may provide opportunities for SMEs to overcome some of the barriers to implementing environmental initiatives associated with their size, and/or associated characteristics. This paper focuses on attitudes of SME owner-managers to a variety of environmental issues (including regulation and voluntary standards), and to collaborating with other firms (in either a formal or informal sense). The data this paper draws upon are from two waves of an ongoing longitudinal survey of New Zealand SMEs.

Detecting Fraud: The Role of the Anonymous Reporting Channel

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether anonymous reporting channels (ARCs) are effective in detecting fraud against companies. Fraud, which comprises predominantly asset misappropriation, represents a key operational risk and a major cost to organisations (ACFE, http://www.acfe.com/uploadedFiles/ACFE_Website/Content/rttn/2012-report-to-nations.pdf, 2012; KPMG, http://www.kpmg.com/AU/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Fraud-Survey/Documents/fraud-bribery-corruption-survey-2012v2.pdf, 2012). The fraud triangle (incentives, opportunities and attitudes) provides a framework for developing our understanding of how ARCs can increase detection of fraud. Using publicly listed company survey data collected by KPMG in Australia—where ARCs are not mandated—we find a positive association between ARCs and reported fraud. These results indicate that ARCs are effective in detecting fraud. Additional analysis reveals that small firms derive the greatest benefit from adopting ARCs. We also find that independent boards do not directly influence the detection of fraud, but companies with independent boards detect more fraud because they implement ARCs.

Does board gender diversity improve the informativeness of stock prices?

We show that stock prices of firms with gender-diverse boards reflect more firm-specific information after controlling for corporate governance, earnings quality, institutional ownership and acquisition activity. Further, we show that the relationship is stronger for firms with weak corporate governance suggesting that gender-diverse boards could act as a substitute mechanism for corporate governance that would be otherwise weak. The results are robust to alternative specifications of informativeness and gender diversity and to sensitivity tests controlling for time-invariant firm characteristics and alternative measures of stock price informativeness. We also find that gender diversity improves stock price informativeness through the mechanism of increased public disclosure in large firms and by encouraging private information collection in small firms. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.

A new industry concentration index

We propose and analyse a new concentration index alternative to the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI). This new index emphasises the concept of competitive balance. It is designed to preserve the convexity property of the HHI when a merger involves one of the m largest firms, but to decrease and thus to indicate an increase in competition when a merger is purely among the (n − m) smallest firms.